


The Magnifying Glass and the Fouled Anchor

by Swim2520



Series: 2020 Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest [1]
Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: 2020 Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest, F/M, Other characters briefly make an appearance, au soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26721142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swim2520/pseuds/Swim2520
Summary: Nancy never believed in soulmates.She could never understand how there was one person in the world that everyone was supposed to fall in love with. Her parents did not have matching marks, yet they were perfect for each other. Besides, no matter how many times scientists studied soulmarks, they had never been able to determine exactly where they came from or why they came. And that was unacceptable to Nancy as an individual that believed firmly in the facts.AU where Nancy and Ace have matching soul marks.
Relationships: Ace/Nancy Drew
Series: 2020 Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944706
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	The Magnifying Glass and the Fouled Anchor

**Author's Note:**

> I found this post on Tumblr from aceandnancy and, as someone who has been meaning to start writing in this fandom, I could not resist contributing to this Drabblefest. The prompts are: Nancy and Ace have matching soulmarks, Ace and Nancy share their first kiss in the rain, and “I don’t want to fight this anymore.”

Nancy never believed in soulmates. 

She could never understand how there was one person in the world that everyone was supposed to fall in love with. Her parents did not have matching marks, yet they were perfect for each other. Besides, no matter how many times scientists studied soulmarks, they had never been able to determine exactly where they came from or why they came. And that was unacceptable to Nancy as an individual that believed firmly in the facts. 

The only facts about soulmarks were that everyone had at least one person that had a matching soulmark. The marks came in various forms-pictures, the first words that soulmates say to each other, or a random phrase from your soulmate. Whoever in the bond was born first gained their marks whenever their soulmate was born. Not much else was known about soulmates. 

Nancy was born with a magnifying glass over a fouled anchor on her lower back. Despite her beliefs about soulmates in general, Nancy had been unable to resist researching the meaning of her soulmate. The magnifying glass was obvious-Nancy loved solving mysteries-but the anchor was a bit confusing. 

In a town like Horseshoe Bay that relied on fishing, a fouled anchor could mean that her soulmate was in the maritime industry. According to the books she read furiously in the library as a child, an anchor could also mean that her soulmate, whoever it was, grounded her. Nancy did not see the reasoning for that. There was no reason for her to spend her entire life searching for an elusive soulmate that supposedly grounded her, especially when there was a chance that they would never meet anyway. 

And then she met her soulmate. 

Things at the Claw had been awkward for the past few days as the group tried to figure out what happened between Nancy and Ace. They were both extraordinarily tightlipped about the situation. Even Bess, who Ace told everything, was left in the dark about what happened. 

The two had hardly spoken to each other in the past few days. Getting them to maintain eye contact with each other for longer than a second or two was even more difficult. Something had happened. 

It had been an accident.

Their most recent encounter with the supernatural left them needing to dig up a body to perform some sort of ancient ritual under the careful eye of their favorite clairvoyant. As the only two willing to actually dig up the body, Nancy and Ace broke into the cemetery under the cover of darkness and dug up the body. It had taken them until sunrise to finish the job. They had gone in knowing that it would be a dirty job and packed extra clothing in Ace’s car (less noticeable than Nancy’s) and trash bags to store their dirty clothes. 

And that was when Nancy saw the matching crossed magnifying glass and fouled anchor on Ace’s chest, near his heart. The same mark that resided on her back. Nancy had not spoken immediately afterwards and Ace pieced together what she discovered. 

Exactly a week after Nancy and Ace discovered that they were soulmates, the rest of the Drew Crew grew sick of the drama-mainly George who claimed it was affecting their work. So, extreme measures were greenlighted. 

“What the hell?” Nancy asked as she found the front door to the Claw locked. The sign had already been switched to the open side, meaning that Nancy was late to work as she was every day. The door should have already been unlocked as they waited for some customers to come in for breakfast. 

“Don’t bother,” Ace said from beside the windows. “They locked me out too. I tried the back door, tried picking both, and even opening up a window. George almost hit me with a mop that time.”

“Why?” Nancy asked, even though she knew the answer. Their friends were trying to make them talk to each other and they thought locking all the doors to the Claw was the solution. 

“We aren’t allowed back inside until we talk apparently.”

“It’s pouring outside! Do they want us to freeze?” She replied, gesturing to the pouring rain that she had just gotten out of. 

_“Talk to each other and then you can come inside to change!”_ Bess yelled from inside. Nancy narrowed her eyes, giving Bess the meanest glare she could to convey her absolute fury of being forced to talk about something she was not ready to talk about yet. 

“You heard her. Maybe we should talk,’ Ace said after a minute or two of silence between them. 

“No. There’s nothing to say,” Nancy said, dashing down the steps and back into the pouring rain. If she couldn’t work, then she would just go back home. There was no reason for Nancy to hang out all day in the rain because her friends liked to get involved in her ~~love~~ personal life. Just before Nancy reached her car, she felt a warm hand grab her wrist. Ace made no move to do anything else, which was the only reason why Nancy finally turned around to face him. 

“Nancy, I know how you feel about soulmates. I don’t feel the same way, but I understand why you feel the way you do. You want to be able to choose who you love for yourself. You don’t want to feel helpless against or defined by something that you have had since birth. But ask yourself this: if soulmates didn’t exist and you could choose for yourself, would you choose me? If the answer is no, then I’ll forget that we were ever soulmates and we can just be friends. But if the answer is yes, we’ll go from there. No pressure either way,” Ace said, trailing off at the end. 

Nancy took a moment to think. In the mess that her world had been for the past few months, the one good thing had been Ace. He was always there for her, even if it meant putting himself in danger. He never pushed her to open up about her feelings, allowing her to find the words to express herself. Ace was always the one who made Nancy feel calm, understood, grounded, like the fouled anchor marked on their skin. And she had no doubts that Ace would honor her wish to remain friends if it made her happy. He had secrets, sure. Nancy didn’t even know his last name. And so did she. But for once, she wasn’t tempted to find out all his secrets or feel pressure to share her own. She knew who he was inside and she knew that Ace felt the same way about her. That was all that matted. 

With tears streaming down her face, Nancy said quietly, “I would choose you. You make me feel safe, happy, and loved. You always support me, no matter what. I’m just so tired. I don’t want to fight this anymore. I want to be happy and you make me happy.”

“Then don’t,” Ace replied. 

Without another word, Ace pulled her into a kiss, which Nancy eagerly reciprocated. She was wet and cold from the pouring rain, but there was nowhere else she would rather be than here with her soulmate, the only person who made her feel complete. 

From inside the Claw, Nick commented, “I guess they sorted out their problems.”


End file.
